Kent Farrington and Creedance Capture Double Wins in New York

It's not one, but two wins for Creedance and Kent Farrington in the first edition of the Governor’s Island Global Champions Tour in New York City. The pair finished first in both Saturday's qualifier and Sunday’s €150,000 1.55-meter class.

Sunday’s win was especially hard fought, with 15 advancing to the short course over Uliano Vezzania’s track. Farrington and Creedance won the class over Pieter Devos on Espoir, with Harrie Smolders and Cas 2 taking third. The pair went early in the jump-off, but Farrington didn’t consider that a disadvantage at all as the remaining qualified competitors attempted to catch him. Rails and seconds added to the clock while Farrington maintained his position.

“My plan with Creedance is always the same, just to do his round,” he said of the 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood by Lord Z. “That’s normally fast enough to win or to be very, very close. I try not to change my tactics or my strategy for anyone else, so I just do my own plan for him and what suits him.

“I think I just have a faster horse,” he continued. “He’s a rocket. He’s so quick across the ground. He’s very efficient at the fence. It’s a huge advantage because he can do the same number of strides as any other horse but he can do them going faster. So in a class like that, it’s a big advantage.”

Creedance, co-owned by Farrington and RCG Farm, has won in New York before, taking the top prize at the Rolex Central Park Horse Show in 2017. But Farrington’s been competing abroad since April, winning classes on Creedance at the Global Champions Tour of St. Tropez (France) and Spruce Meadows (Calgary), among others.

“I got him when he was seven,” Farrington said. “He always had great talent but he was really a high-strung horse with a lot of blood. It took a lot of time for him to mature into a more rideable horse, a more predictable horse. That’s what you see now. His rounds are more consistent. You can really count on him to deliver and he’s an exceptional horse in the sport.”

Next up for Creedance is a bit of a rest. He’ll have a month off then come back for end of the fall season.

FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE

On showing at the Longines Global Champions Tour New York: “It was a good week. I brought two very competitive horses and I actually thought they had a chance to win every day. Creedance was in amazing form and won both of his classes this week.”

On Creedance as a championship horse: “I don’t know that a championship would suit him and I don’t know if I would ask him to jump it. He jumps a lot from his heart and I try to manage his classes so I am not always asking him to jump the biggest rounds because he is a small horse and I don’t want to over-tax him. So I do my best to balance his schedule.”

On bringing the best athletes in the world to America: “I think the sport is global and to compete against the best, all of the best have to be present. Because a lot of the leading riders are in Europe, we have to go there. I think this horse show is a great way to showcase the sport and to raise the level here in America while exposing the audience to these top riders. There is always something to learn from different riding styles and types of horses, so to have that exposure here in the States is a great thing for the sport.”

On competing at a destination horse show: “I like competing with the best and I think that these shows are great and have elevated the level of the sport. I also still appreciate the more traditional shows that have been historically important like Aachen, Calgary and Geneva but I think the Global Champions Tour has elevated the sport and gotten us a lot more exposure by raising the level of money behind the riders and ultimately all of that has benefitted the sport.”

Source: The Chronicle of the Horse, Sportfot Photography and Phelps Sports Media